Apparatus to redistribute vertical load forces horizontally

ABSTRACT

An exercise apparatus constructed from two loops held together by tubing segments that enable the loops to move freely with respect to one another while preventing them from separating. The loops form a gap between them, into which a weighted object is placed. When horizontal forces are applied that tend to pull the loops apart from each other, the gap becomes smaller and the weighted object is captured. The object can then lifted using both loops by both horizontal and vertical forces.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Present US patent application is the nonprovisional counterpart ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/650,825 having the same titleand filed on Feb. 8, 2005. This Present Application claims the benefitand priority of said Provisional Application which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety thereto.

BACKGROUND

Small weighted dumbbells are frequently used while exercising. Thedumbbells exert a vertical gravitational downward force which iscounterbalanced by a person lifting the dumbbell. It is often desirablefor a person exercising with a dumbbell to also exert a horizontal forcethat is proportional to the weight of the dumbbell. To do this, anapparatus is necessary to redistribute some of the force in thehorizontal direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Present Invention comprises two loops joined together by twosegments of tubing. The loops are fabricated from a flexible materialsuch as nylon rope. The loops move freely and tighten about an weightedobject placed between the loops upon the application of a horizontalforce that tend to pull the loops apart. The object may now be lifted bymaintaining the horizontal force. Another application of the PresentInvention is that it is used to distribute the weight of the liftedobject between two hands. Heavy objects may therefore be lifted jointlyby two people, and the weight can be distributed between them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the Present Invention where theloops are continuous.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the Present Invention where theloops are formed by knotting.

FIG. 3 demonstrates how the Present Invention may be used to grasp adumbbell at one end. FIG. 3(a) shows it being lowered over the dumbbell.FIG. 3(b) shows it being tightened about the dumbbell.

FIG. 4 illustrates how a dumbbell may be lifted using the PresentInvention. FIG. 4(a) shows the loops fully extended in the horizontaldirection. FIG. 4(b) shows the more usual position of the loops whilethe dumbbell is being grasped.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the forces exerted by both handswhen an object is lifted by the Present Invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the Present Invention. Loops 1and 2 are joined together by tubing segments 3 and 4. The tubingsegments may be flexible or rigid, and they may be curved or straight.The loops are fabricated from a flexible material such as nylon ropethat is often used for climbing. The material may be a rope or strandhaving one or several filaments. Both loops 1 and 2 are enclosed insideeach of the tubing segments 3 and 4. The inside diameter of each tubingsegment, 3 and 4, is greater than twice the diameter of a loop, and ischosen sufficiently large to enable the loops which they enclose to movefreely within the tubing. Tubing segments 5 and 6 enclose loops 1 and 2,respectively, to form handles that make the device easy to use. Thehandles are desirable but not necessary. The handles may be flexible orrigid, and they may be curved or straight. The loops are configured toform a central gap 7 between the two loops. When an object is placedinside gap 7, and forces are exerted to pull the loops apart, the gapbecomes smaller and ultimately captures the object. The loops do notseparate since they are held together by tubing segments 3 and 4. Theobject may now be lifted by exerting horizontal and vertical forces onthe loops using handles 5 and 6.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the device where the loops areformed by knotting together rope segments at 8 and 9. Not only can theloops be formed by joining the ends of rope segments 8 and 9 byknotting, but the ends may be joined together by splicing, gluing, orwelding.

FIG. 3 shows how the device may be used to grasp a dumbbell. As shown inFIG. 3(a), the device is held by placing handles 5 and 6 in each handrespectively, and lowering the device over the dumbbell in the downwarddirection as shown. It is critical that gap 7 be large enough to fitover dumbbell 10. As shown in FIG. 3(b), once the gap surrounds thedumbbell 10, gap 7 can be narrowed by pulling handles 5 and 6 inopposite directions horizontally. Eventually, the two loops choke thedumbbell so that it may be lifted.

FIG. 4 shows how the dumbbell is lifted. In FIG. 4(a), the handles arefully extended, and a vertical force is applied to both handles whichlifts the dumbbell. As will be seen, the handles cannot be fullyextended while the dumbbell is being lifted since the applied forcenecessary to both grasp and lift the dumbbell is infinite. FIG. 4(b)shows the more likely configuration of the handles with respect to thedumbbell.

FIG. 5 shows the forces necessary to lift an object having a weight Wwith the device while holding it in both hands. Points L and R representthe left hand and right hand, respectively. If an object having weight Wis lifted by two hands, each hand will experience a vertical liftingforce of w/2. If the loops form an angle θ with the horizontal, thehorizontal force exerted by each hand would necessarily be$\frac{W}{2}\cot\quad{\theta.}$The resultant force would be $\frac{W}{2}\csc\quad{\theta.}$Clearly, as θ becomes smaller, the cotangent of θ and the cosecant of θbecomes larger, and consequently, the horizontal force becomes larger.Ultimately, an infinite force is required to maintain the loops at anangle of 0° with the horizontal.

1. An apparatus that redistributes forces comprising: a. two overlappingclosed loops formed from flexible strands, each strand comprising atleast one filament; and, b. two tube segments, each enclosing bothloops, wherein the inside diameter of each tube segment is greater thanthe combined thickness of both strands, and chosen to be sufficientlylarge to enable both loops to move freely with respect to each other;wherein the two loops intersect to form a gap of varying size dependingupon the overlap position of the loops with respect to one another, intowhich a weighted object may be placed.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the tube segments are flexible.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the tube segments are rigid.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe tube segments are curved.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thetube segments are straight.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thefilaments comprising the strand are twisted around each other.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the filaments comprising the strand are nottwisted around each other, and are free to move independently withrespect to one another.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thefilaments comprising the strand are bonded to each other.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1 further comprising two handles formed from tubesegments, wherein one handle encloses the strand of one loop and theother handle encloses the strand of the other loop, said handles beinglocated on opposite ends of the apparatus so as to conveniently enablethe application of opposing horizontal forces and the necessary verticalforce to lift the weighted object.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 whereinthe handles are flexible.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein thehandles are rigid.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the handles arecurved.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the handles are straight.14. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein each loop is formed by joining theends a strand together.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the endsare knotted together.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the ends arespliced together.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the ends areglued together.
 18. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the ends arewelded together.